Facebook, Food Stamps, Politics, And The Megaphone Of The Uninformed

When you use Facebook as a megaphone to pronounce condemnation of people who happen to own certain material possessions while simultaneously using food stamps, you perpetuate a stigma that already exists. You are simply pouring salt on a wound. You are standing on your soapbox and demeaning a system that helps people in need, while disparaging people you don’t know, to make a political point, about something you evidently are not informed about.

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Here’s The Thing, Gun Nuts And Their Supreme Court Justice Cohorts Are A Lost Cause

When we talk about gun safety, yes, even the term “gun control,” what we need to recognize is that the gun nuts are a lost cause. The people who call themselves gun rights advocates, or protectors of the Second Amendment, well, they are not the minds we are trying to change. That’s what we have to acknowledge. You cannot change a closed mind. They are dogmatic. They will not be swayed. There is no argument a gun safety proponent can articulate that will permeate the impenetrable fortress that is the mind of the ideologue.

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Hey Republicans, There’s Always Benghazi To Fall Back On

When you lose the economy and Obamacare as reliable talking points, there’s always Benghazi to fall back on. Sure Republican legislators, why not continue to exploit the deaths of four Americans for political gain, because you were so good at it when you dragged us into two wars, ending in even more American deaths, not to mention the foreign death toll. Death and destruction goes hand and hand with the politics of the GOP. Just ask the people who have lost loved-ones because of the “conservative” states denying access to the Medicaid expansion.

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NBA Bans Sterling, And Some Conservatives Need A Lesson In Free Speech, Again

Conservatives love free enterprise and loathe (what they call) big government. But every once in a while (okay, quite often actually) an issue arises where it’s unclear if conservatives hold a consistent viewpoint when it comes to what is or isn’t acceptable or legal in the private sector vs. the public sector. And quite often this creates confusion as to what is or isn’t protected free speech. Take for instance today’s announcement from the NBA that Clippers owner Donald Sterling is banned for life for racist comments that were recorded in private.

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The Supreme Court And Affirmative Action

I don’t have to respect the robe, and I don’t have to offer deference to Supreme Court justices if they are wrong. Because at the end of the day, they are still just human beings. So when the Supreme Court ruled this week to uphold Michigan’s ban on affirmative action, they were simply wrong, regardless of statue, regardless of power.

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Cliven Bundy, Sean Hannity, And Right-Wing Reactionary Politics

The whole Cliven Bundy episode is a case study in right-wing reactionary politics. All the people who came to his support are now distancing themselves. That includes Sean Hannity and other Fox News personalities, and it also includes the Kochs’ funded Americans for Prosperity. None of them could be bothered to do any homework before throwing their support to him or featuring him prominently on Fox News nightly.

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